The present invention generally relates to steering fin control systems for missiles and other projectiles and, more particularly, to the actuator systems within these vehicles which are coupled to the steering fins to impart steering forces to the vehicle during flight.
Various types of steering control systems are known. Such systems include those described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,887,821, 5,505,408, 4,163,534. Such systems further include those described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,752,352 and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/390,423, both of which are assigned to the Assignee of the present application and incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. However, there is a need for a steering control system that is compact, lightweight, makes efficient use of the interior space of a projectile, and provides steering control over a plurality of steering fins in a more efficient manner.
Accordingly, the present invention provides an actuator system for controlling the positioning of the plurality of steering fins of a projectile that overcomes the disadvantages of known systems while offering features not present in known systems. Although certain deficiencies in the related art are described in this background discussion and elsewhere, it will be understood that these deficiencies were not necessarily heretofore recognized or known as deficiencies. Furthermore, it will be understood that, to the extent that one or more of the deficiencies described herein may be found in an embodiment of the claimed invention, the presence of such deficiencies does not detract from the novelty or nonobviousness of the invention or remove the embodiment from the scope of the claimed invention.